Help:Fair Use

Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test.

This page provides some basic examples for how to write a fair use rationale. Good rationales might expand on why the non-free item is needed, why a free item cannot be used in its place, and what essential function it performs in each article in which it is to be used. Please modify the text so that it applies to the specific image and use of it. If the image is used in several articles, then include a separate rationale for each article. If the article text comments on the image itself, then write so because that strengthens the fair use claim. It may be preferable to use the template when adding the fair use rationale. The examples below are generic and meant for reference, and not meant to be copied verbatim to fair use media pages.

Logo in the article about the topic that the logo represents

 * === Fair use in ARTICLE NAME ===
 * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
 * # It illustrates an educational article about the entity that the logo represents.
 * # The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.
 * # It is a low resolution image, and thus not suitable for production of counterfeit goods.
 * # The logo is not used in such a way that a reader would be confused into believing that the article is written or authorized by the owner of the logo.
 * # It is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.


 * Other text indicating conformance with the Logos guideline may be added, such as confirmation that the logo has been rendered at a small size and with lower detail if it is a scalable vector image.

CD album cover art in the article about that album

 * === Fair use in ARTICLE NAME ===
 * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
 * # It illustrates educational articles about the album from which the cover illustration was taken.
 * # The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.
 * # The use of the cover will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original. In particular, copies of the image could not be used to make illegal copies of the album artwork on another CD.
 * # It is a low resolution image.
 * # The image is only a small portion of the commercial product.
 * # It is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.

Video game cover in the article about that game

 * === Fair use in ARTICLE NAME ===
 * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
 * # It illustrates an educational article about the game from which the cover illustration was taken.
 * # The use of the cover will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original. In particular, copies could not be used to make illegal copies of the game.
 * # It is a low resolution image.
 * # The image is only a small portion of the commercial product.
 * # It is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.

Book cover in the article about that book

 * === Fair use in ARTICLE NAME ===
 * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
 * # It illustrates an educational article about the book from which the cover illustration was taken.
 * # The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.
 * # The use of the cover will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original. In particular, copies could not be used to make illegal copies of the book.
 * # It is a low resolution image.
 * # The image is only a small portion of the commercial product.
 * # It is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.

Film poster in the article about that film

 * === Fair use in ARTICLE NAME ===
 * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
 * # It illustrates an educational article about the film from which the film poster illustration was taken.
 * # The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.
 * # The use of the film poster illustration will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original. In particular, copies could not be used to make illegal copies of the film.
 * # It is a low resolution image.
 * # The image is only a small portion of the commercial product.
 * # It is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.

DVD covers in the article about that film or video

 * === Fair use in ARTICLE NAME ===
 * This copyrighted image is used in the WikiMovieMemorabilia article " ARTICLE NAME ." The manner of said use constitutes a "fair use" under United States copyright law. Specifically:
 * # WikiMovieMemorabilia is a project of WikiCollectables, a collaborative website for collectors.
 * # The sole purpose of this use of the copyrighted image is to illustrate the DVD in question.
 * # Said image is the primary means of visual identification of the main topic of the article; that is, the work that is distributed via the DVD media.
 * # The image is used only once in the article, and is used in a section or that is neutral in tone.
 * # The cover of the media is not the "content" specifically being sold by the publisher of the media.
 * # The market for the original DVD product will not be diminished by this use of the image. In fact, this use is likely to encourage the increased legitimate sales of said DVD's.
 * # Because the image is provided at a low resolution inappropriate for re-printing the DVD cover, its usage on WikiMovieMemorabilia does not pose a problem of aiding media piracy (the re-printing of covers to accompany pirated discs), or make it so that the copyright holder could not in the future successfully re-sell the image as a print or poster on its own.
 * # Since it is copyrighted DVD box art, the image is not replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.
 * # Digital versions of this image have been previously published on numerous websites, so this use on WikiMovieMemorabilia does not make the image significantly more accessible.
 * # The image is not used in such a way that a reader would be confused into believing that the article is produced, sponsored, or authorized by the owner of the image.

Historical photographs

 * === Fair use for ARTICLE NAME ===
 * Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
 * # It is a historically significant photo of a famous individual. (Add sources to back up this claim, like news articles mentioning this image (and not simply using it))
 * # It is of much lower resolution than the original (copies made from it will be of very inferior quality).
 * # The photo is only being used for informational purposes.
 * # Its inclusion in the article adds significantly to the article because the photo and its historical significance are the object of discussion in the article.

The above are only general examples; The information should be as specific as possible, i.e. why you need to use the image as part of the article. Adding this information is no guarantee that the image will not be later removed, but it will demonstrate a rationale to others that you may have a valid justification for including fair use materials that can be used under the GFDL.